Auxiliary heat radiator for internal-combustion engines



Feb. 27, 1951 w. A. DENNIS 2,543,443

AUXILIARY HEAT RADIATOR FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Aug. 5, 1948 I N V EN TOR. W/A L MM ,4. flaw/5 Maw Patented Feb 27, 1951 AUXILIARY HEAT RADIATQR FOR INTER- NAL-COMBUSTIUN ENGINES William A. Dennis, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of one-half to Harland F. Beardslee, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application August 5, 1948, Serial No. 42,574

2 Claims.

This invention relates to an auxiliary heat radiator for internal combustion engines.

Heretofore in the construction of automobile engines and also in the case of stationary internal combustion engines, it has been common practice to connect the outlet from the water jacket of the engine to the top of the radiator by means of rubber or composition hose. Such rubber or composition hose possesses the advantage of being flexible but has the disadvantage of being a poor conductor of heat. Consequently, water from the water jacket flowing toward the radiator, either through thermosiph-on action or because of a water pump, has little opportunity to lose its heat until it reaches the radiator. As the water conducted from the water jacket to the radiator usually enters the radiator near its top, that water which is fed to the top of the radiator has an undu y and unnecessarily high temperature, placing a heavy burden on the radiator to cool it prior to its being returned to the water jacket. There are many situations wherein it is desirable to reduce the size of the radiator for a given internal combustion engine and climates it is desirable to maintain the water jacket tempera ure adequately low without in creasing the radiator size.

An object of the present invention is to provide an auxiliary heat radiator consisting of a conduit formed of highly conductive metal which serves to connect the outlet from the water jacket of the engine to the top of the radiator. This conduit is characterized by the fact that on the exterior thereof it has a plurality of heat radia ing fins arranged in planes other than perpendicular to the normal direction of air flow through the radiator and across the conduit. The flanged or finned conduit occupies or bridges the major portion of the space between the water jacket outlet and the radiator inlet and functions to radiate or conduct off to the surrounding atmosphere a substantial portion of the heat in the water flowing therethrough. Consequently, the water entering the top of the radiator has already been cooed substantially below the temperature that it had on passing out of the water jacket outlet. Some of the burden is taken off of the radiator permitting smaller sized radiators to be employed or, with a given size of radiator, more efficient cooling to be accomplished. Although the distance between the water jacket outlet and the top of the radiator may be relatively small, I find that with conventional automobile engines now on the in extreme y warm- (Cl. 123'--41.l.)

market, the drop in temperature obtainable on passing through the auxiliary radiator may be as much as 5 F.

By means of the improved construction it is not necessary to alter the radiator or the water jacket outlet in any respect and in the usual situation it is merely necessary to substitute the conduit embodying the present invention for the hose that conventionally connects the water jacket with the radiator. By employing flexible attaching means at the ends thereof, sufiicient flexibility is obtained to satisfy all requirements heretofore met by rubber or composition hoses.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the iollowingdetailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a portion of an internal combustion engine and its radiator illustrating one form of auxiliary heat radiator embodying the present invention as having been installed thereon;

Fig, 2 is a similar view but illustrating another form of construction that optionally may be employed;

Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating still another form of construction that may be used; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken substantially upon the line i4 upon Fig. 3.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, in Fig. 1 It indicates an internal combustion engine which may be of any conventional or preferred type equipped with water jackets. H indicates its radiator which is connected at its lower end to the water jacket of the engine it by means of a short section of hose l2. The engine may or may not be equipped with a water pump for inducing a return of cool water from the bottom of the radiator H through the hose 2 to the water jacket are preferably integral with the conduit and are arranged in planes other than perpendicular to the direction of normal air flow through the radiator ll. Thus if the engine i3 is regarded as an automobile engine, air flow through the radiator I I may be assumed to be passing substantially horizontally therethrough from right to left and under these circumstances the fins I are arranged in planes at a decided angle thereto, as shown in Fig. 1, or approximately paralel thereto, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. the construction shown in Fig. 1, the planes of the fins are disposed at right angles to the axis of that portion of the conduit on which the fins are mounted. The ends of the conduit are suitably turned or directed so as to be disposed adjacent the outlet l3 and the inlet It, respectively. An attaching means is provided for connecting one end of the conduit to the out et l3 such as a short length of rubber hose or the equivalent indicated at El equipped with hose clamps id for attachment to the conduit l5 and outlet I3, respectively. In a similar manner the other end of the conduit is provided with a short length of hose 2:) and hose clamps 2| to enable this section of hose to connect the conduit 25 to the inlet [4 of the radiator ll.

Water leav g the water jacket the engine H) flows upwardly through the cor it 5 to the top of the radiator H and as the conduit l5 and its integral fins 55 are formed of good heatconductor a substantial amount of heat present in the water may be radiated therefrom through the fins The flow of air acr ss ac cm the exterior of the condrlt i removing a substantial amount 01 a able in the water and as the rate of heat conduction increases with the di 1 perature between the water \Vlb in the conduit and the surrounding air, it is manifest that the higher the difierence wetween the teinperat the water and the temperature of the sum.) ing air, the greater the amount of heat that will be radiated through the radiator. Consequently the water on reaching the top of the radiator I l will enter the radiator at a lower temperature than would otherwise be the case, relieving the radiator of some of its burden of cooling the water before it is returned to the water jacket.

In the preferred form of construction the conduit l5 bridges the major portion of the distance between the outlet 13 and the inlet Hi, and the hoses and 25 are made onh. long enough to form an adequate connection between the con duit and the outlet 53 and the inlet respectively. iese hoses, being flexible, will permit of whatever adjustment may be necessary if the radiator vibrates relatively to the en... e 5 3 In the construction shown in Fig. 2, the conduit 15a is the as that previously described except that its radiating fins lea, instead of being arranged at right angles to the axis of the conduit, are inclined relatively thereto so as to be substantially parall l to the normal direction of air flow through the radiator By having the air sweep between and across the fins, a greater eihciency is accomplished in removing heat from the water conducted through the conduit.

In Fig. 3 the conduit 15b is substantially the same as that previously described but its fins lBb are radially arranged around the conduit so that they will all be substantially parallel to the direction of normal air flow adjacent the conduit.

From the above described construction it will be appreciated that, in installing the improved radiator On an automobile or stationary internal combustion engine, it is unnecessary to alter or modify either the engine or the radiator. The conduit is preferably cast to the desired shape, size and length and is connected at its ends to the outlet and inlet l3 and I4, respectively, by means of the short hose coupling sections. {he improved auxiliary radiator may also be advantageously employed in cool climates as a heater in that it is merely necessary to surround the conduit with a suitable housing which will retain the heated air and conduct it to the interior of the automobile which it is desired to heat. I find that an auxiliary radiator of this character operates in a very efficient manner, cool ng the water between the engine and the ra ator substantially, thus enabling either a smaf r to be used or a conventionally or to function with maximum cooling under the most severe conditions.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In combination with an internal combustion engine having water jackets and a radiator, a heat-conducting conduit leading from the water jacket to the radiator having a plurality of external heat-radiating fins thereon, said fins being arranged in planes other than perpendicular to the dir ction of normal air flow through the radiator.

2. In combination with an internal combustion engine having water jackets and a radiator, a heat-conducting conduit leading from the water jacket to the radiator having a plurality of external heat-radiating fins thereon, said fins being arranged in planes other than perp ndicular to the direction of normal air flow through the radiator, said conduit bridging the major portion of the distance between the internal combustion engine and the radiator.

WILLIAM A. DENNIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Num er Name Date 1044,065 Luce Nov. 12, 1912 1,117,976 Chatain et al. l'ov. 2 1914 1,985,198 lxvilliarns Dec. 16, 1934 2,125,958 Schmeller Aug. 9, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 160,795 Great Britain of 1922 419,571 France of 1910 

